The ''ballata'' (plural: ''ballate'') is an Italian

poetic Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in a ...

and musical form in use from the late 13th to the 15th century. It has the musicapenim AbbaA, with the first and last stanzas having the same texts. It is thus most similar to the French musical ' forme fixe' virelai (and not the

ballade Ballad is a form of narrative poetry, often put to music, or a type of sentimental love song in modern popular music. Ballad or Ballade may also refer to: Music Genres and forms * Ballade (classical music), a musical setting of a literary ballad ...

as the name might otherwise suggest). The first and last "A" is called a ''ripresa'', the "b" lines are ''piedi'' (feet), while the fourth line is called a "volta". Longer ballate may be found in the form AbbaAbbaA, etc. Unlike the virelai, the two "b" lines usually have exactly the same music and only in later ballate pick up the (formerly distinctly French) first and second (open and close) endings. The term comes from the verb ''ballare'', to dance, and the form certainly began as dance music. The ballata was one of the most prominent secular musical forms during the trecento, the period often known as the Italian '' ars nova''. Ballate are sung at the end of each day of

Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was some ...

's '' Decameron'' (only one musical setting of these poems, by Lorenzo da Firenze, survives). Early ballate, such as those found in the

Rossi Codex The Rossi Codex is a music manuscript collection of the 14th century. The manuscript is presently divided into two sections, one in the Vatican Library and another, smaller section in the Northern Italian town of Ostiglia. The codex contains 37 s ...

are monophonic. Later, ballate are found for two or three voices. The most notable composer of ballate is

Francesco Landini Francesco Landini ( or 1335 – 2 September 1397; also known by many names) was an Italian composer, poet, organist, singer and instrument maker who was a central figure of the Trecento style in late Medieval music. One of the most revered c ...

, who composed in the second half of the 14th century. Other composers of ballata include Andrea da Firenze, a contemporary of

, as well as Bartolino da Padova, Johannes Ciconia, Prepositus Brixiensis Stanley Boorman ''Studies in the Performance of Late Medieval Music'' p.225 and Zacara da Teramo. In the 15th century both Arnold de Lantins and

Guillaume Dufay Guillaume Du Fay ( , ; also Dufay, Du Fayt; 5 August 1397(?) – 27 November 1474) was a French composer and music theorist of the early Renaissance. Considered the leading European composer of his time, his music was widely performed and repr ...

wrote ballate; they were among the last to do so.

References

Medieval music genres Italian music history Western medieval lyric forms {{Poetry-stub

See also

References